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Scott McDonald, owner of Che, said he was just closing up when the fighting moved to his end of the street. After someone tried to get in his back patio door, he saw a group of six men converging on a pair, one of whom was holding a knife.

"He was holding the knife, telling them to get back. I really think he was just trying to keep them away."

McDonald says he went outside and yelled at them, telling them to take off and the police were on their way, but two men from the larger group picked up some metal supports used by police to block off the street, and chased after the man holding the knife.

"They chased him into the parking lot and started hitting him and they knocked that guy out and they just ran off."

McDonald said what he witnessed was likely the end of the brawl, "I don't know what led up to it." As he (and several others) went over to give help to the beaten man, he said he saw another of the men sitting, obviously injured on the sidewalk.

"The police got there pretty quickly," he said Friday evening.

Police say emergency crews were called to the area at 2:40 a.m. for reports of a disturbance involving weapons and when they arrived, they found two groups of people with varying injuries, some caused by a knife and others by a blunt object. All of the victims are in their early 20s.

Staff Sergeant Andy Dunlop said Friday none of the injuries were life-threatening.

"We transported three patients," said EMS Manager Carmen D'Angelo, adding he was told two other injured people had left the scene before paramedics arrived.

"They had lacerations to their hands and legs, possibly as a result of a stabbing," D'Angelo said.

As of Friday morning police said no arrests or charges had been laid; Requests for updates Friday afternoon went unanswered.

While business owners in Hess Village foot the bill for paid duty policing (mostly during patio season) McDonald says a few bad owners are to blame.

In a post on his Facebook page, McDonald lists the bars and restaurants he says care about customer safety and manage their businesses properly.

"I'm a little upset with some of the bar owners, they don't look after their crowds," he said, citing a failure to ban people who fight, over-serving patrons, and over-packing their places.

"Those are pretty good triggers for fights," he says.

"It just gives Hess Village a bad name."

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Michael DiPietro at 905-546-3821 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Rosie-Ann Grover is an award winning journalist and member of thespec.com's web team. Know of an interesting crime story? Email me at rgrover@thespec.com

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(20) Comment

By George|MARCH 29, 2014 09:31 AM

What ever happened to "beat cops? I can see paying for the horses,,,but aren't cops working anyway? There also needs to be a drastic change in drinking laws. IT'S TIME TO BRING THE DRINKING AGE BACK UP to 21.....

Couldn't agree more! My wife and I live in the area and we enjoy going to Hess for dinner and drinks with friends. It is a beautiful area, particularly in the summer and we have often stayed later into the evening and enjoyed the scenery. There are several excellent restaurants: Che Burrito, The Gown, Ora, Flamingo etc. You can see that they have people there that take care of them, the staff are well trained and friendly and there is obviously someone "in charge". The other side of Hess contains those dumpy looking haunted houses that only open on weekends it seems and are content to only sell as much cheap booze to as many gangsters as they can. It really is too bad, this area has so much potential.

@ Chris - having people stoned and holding them against their will isn't going to solve anything (also, I believe its called "forecible confinement" in the Criminal Code). At one time this place was a "gem" in Hamilton. Now it's turned into the sandbox at the dog park. Anyone with half a brain and any amount of self respect wouldn't go near this place after 6 pm

Hess village has gone down hill. It is full of young men calling each other "yo" and gangster oriented youth wanting to be black when they are white. Why does a patron come to Hess with a knife. Maybe he is looking for or expecting trouble. It is all fueled by drunken behavior. If Hess village stopped serving Alchohol the violence would stop and mind you so would Hess village.